A petition has been postponed until October which filed by an award-winning author alleging that his arrest and detention based on a short story published on the internet violated his fundamental rights.
Writer Shakthika Sathkumara has filed a fundamental rights case in the Supreme Court against the Polgahawela OIC, former IGP and Attorney General, alleging that his arrest violated his fundamental rights due to his short story name ‘Ardha’.
Attorney-at-Law Sanjaya Wilson Jayasekara has announced on social media that the respondent party has asked for two weeks to state its case after the fourth hearing of the case in Room No. 404 in the Hulftsdorp Supreme Court in Colombo on July 15. The judges then adjourned the case until October 26, 2021.
Attorneys at law Pulasthi Hewamanna, Sanjeewa Kaluarachchi and Sanjaya Wilson Jayasekara appeared for the writer Shakthika Sathkumara.
Under the ICCPR
Writer Shakthika Sathkumara was remanded in custody on April 1, 2019 under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for allegedly insulting Buddhism by publishing a short story on the internet entitled “ Ardha”.
He was released on bail on August 8, 2019 after serving 130 days in prison.
The writer was arrested following a complaint lodged with the IGP by Angulugaha Jinananda Bhikku, director of the Buddhist Information Center.
The case against writer Sathkumara was taken up in the Polgahawela Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.
Shakthika Sathkumara, who was in the public service as a development officer at the time of his imprisonment, was reinstated in the public service on December 2, 2019 after being released on bail.
International bodies, including the United Nations, as well as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, have repeatedly accused, police abuse the law to prosecute individuals under CCPR act.